Start of Something Good
by Lilylulu
Summary: A story reflecting on Cappie and Casey's relationship freshman year.
1. Chapter 1

Casey pulled into the driveway of her childhood home and sighed as she turned off the car. She couldn't believe that after all these years her parents were moving into a smaller home and was sad that this would most likely be the last time she would step foot in this home.

She got out of the car and made her way into the house and saw her mom packing some boxes in the kitchen.

"Casey, is that you?" she asked without looking up.

"Yeah, it's me," said Casey as she set her purse down on the counter. "I can't believe how empty this place looks already."

"The movers are scheduled to come tomorrow," her mom replied. "So we've been working really hard to get everything done."

"Where's dad?" Casey asked.

"Oh he had to run out and get some more boxes," her mom replied. "He should be back soon."

"And Rusty?" Casey continued.

"He's not going to be in town until tomorrow for your party," Mrs. Cartwright replied. "Didn't he tell you that?"

"I thought Jordan said they were coming today," said Casey. "And do you guys really have to throw me a party? It's not like turning thirty-one is anything huge."

"Well with your father's motorcycle accident last year we really didn't get to celebrate your thirtieth birthday," said Mrs. Cartwright as she sealed the box she was working on. "So we're going to use this year to make up for it."

"Please tell me that dad isn't out on his motorcycle right now," said Casey as she glared at her mother.

"He promised to wear a helmet and take it real slow," she replied.

"I can't believe you would let him back on that thing after he broke both of his legs last year," said Casey as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Your father will do whatever he wants to do," said Mrs. Cartwright with a sigh. "I can't stop him."

"Whatever you say mom," said Casey as she rolled her eyes.

"There are still some things in your room that need to be boxed up and taken back to your place," said Mrs. Cartwright ignoring her comment. "Why don't you go and work on that."

"Okay," said Casey as she stood up and made her way upstairs.

She had started packing up her old room earlier in the week but was called away on an emergency disposition. She still had a few things on the walls to take down and go through her desk. But before she was even able to get started her phone rang.

"Yes Valerie," said Casey answering the phone. Even though she loved having her intern, she always managed to call for the dumbest things sometimes.

"I know you have the day off," said Valerie. "But I can't find the file for the Blackmon case and the DA wants it like now. Do you know where it might be?"

"I told you that I put that file in the cabinet next to my desk," Casey replied. "The one I gave you the key to because it's locked."

"Oh yeeaahh," said Valerie. "I completely forgot that."

"It's okay," said Casey. "I'll talk to you later."

"Happy Birthday!" said Valerie eagerly.

"Thanks, I'll see you on Monday," said Casey, hanging up the phone before Valerie could continue.

Casey took several pictures she had from high school off of the wall along with her high school pendant and put them in one of the boxes she had started earlier. She then dragged the box over to her desk and began opening drawers and throwing several office supplies and papers into it. She got down to the bottom drawer and was about to throw a heap of books into the box when one in particular caught her eye. She put the rest of the books down and sat down on the side of the bed observing the flowery outside binding of the book covered with stickers of smiley faces, peace signs and her sorority letters. It was her freshman year journal.

The first couple of entries were from her first two days of college and how scared and nervous she was. She smiled as she read about meeting Ashleigh in the laundry room and deciding to go through rush. If only she knew at that time how much the sorority would really mean to her. She skipped ahead to the night of the rush parties and couldn't help but think about meeting Cappie and dancing with him most of the night.

"_You know, I'm starting to get kind of tired," said Casey. "I'm going to head back to my dorm."_

"_Nooooo," whined Ashleigh. "We're having so much fun!"_

"_It's okay, you can stay," said Casey. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow."_

"_Be safe!" Ashleigh yelled as she was drawn back into the crowd on the dance floor._

_Casey began walking up the back porch steps when suddenly Cappie was right next to her._

"_Where are you going?" he asked with a smile._

"_Are you stalking me?" Casey asked with a small laugh._

"_Just watching…." Cappie replied._

"_Well if you must know, I'm going back to my dorm," said Casey as she walked towards the back door._

"_I'll walk you," said Cappie as he handed his beer to a random guy passing by him and caught up with Casey._

_The two of them walked in silence out of the house and towards the sidewalk._

"_So, did you have fun tonight?" Cappie asked breaking the silence._

"_I did," Casey replied. "I didn't know fraternity parties could be so fun."_

"_Yeah, neither did I," said Cappie with a small laugh. "I really like those guys though. I hope I get a bid from them. None of the other houses stood out like they did."_

"_My favorite house was Zeta Beta Zeta," said Casey. "I never really thought about joining a sorority when I started here though."_

"_Me neither, well, fraternity that is," said Cappie correcting himself. "Evan was the one who encouraged me to go."_

"_Yeah, Ashleigh was the one who introduced me to the idea," said Casey. _

"_So I guess if it weren't for our friends, I would have never met you tonight," said Cappie as he turned to Casey and smiled._

"_I guess you're right," said Casey as she locked eyes with him but quickly turned away and looked forward again._

_She could see out of the corner of her eye that his smiled dropped quickly and he turned his head to look forward again too._

"_Well here is my dorm," said Casey as they arrived at the front door of Pearson Hall._

"_I, uh, would love to see you again," said Cappie as he turned to face her._

"_Me too," said Casey avoiding eye contact. "Maybe if we get into the houses we want we will see each other again at an event or mixer or something."_

"_Now how come when we were on the dance floor tonight you were looking me right in the eyes but I can't get you to even glance at me now?" Cappie asked as he playfully moved his head to where Casey's gaze was._

"_I don't know," said Casey as she locked eyes with him again. "I should really get inside though."_

_But she didn't move. It was like his eyes were paralyzing her in that moment. He had the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen._

_Cappie finally broke the gaze as he took her key card out of her hand and used it to open the door for her._

"_I hope to see you around soon," he said as he handed the card back to her._

"_Yeah, you too," said Casey with a smile._

"_Goodnight," said Cappie as he turned to walk away._

"_Goodnight," said Casey as she turned to walk inside._

Casey turned the page and continued to read about getting her bid from Zeta Beta Zeta and going to the bid night party to meet all of her new sisters. She wasn't too interested in reading about those events though. She honestly hadn't thought about Cappie in a little while and thinking about their first meeting brought all kinds of emotions back that she had been burying. They haven't said more than two or three words to each other since their break up on spring break her senior year of college. They were both in the wedding party for Rusty and Jordan's wedding last year but she begged Rusty to not pair her up with him to walk down the aisle and do the bridal party dance with. It was already awkward enough and there was too much hurt and anger between the two of them to be put in that situation.

She flipped a couple of pages finding the next time there was mention of Cappie.

_It was Friday night, a week after the rush party and Casey was in her dorm room doing some homework. Her roommate had gone home for the weekend and even though her sisters wanted her to join them at Dobbler's she was looking forward to a relaxing night just to herself._

_It was nearing eleven when there was a knock at her door. She was shocked to open the door and find Cappie standing there. _

"_Hey," he said as she opened the door._

"_Uh, how did you find out where I live?" Casey asked as she looked up and down the hall for someone assisting him. Ashleigh was the first person who came to mind._

"_You do know that your room number is on your key card right?" Cappie asked with a smile._

"_And you just happened to look at it when you opened the door for me last week huh?" Casey asked._

"_Guilty as charged," said Cappie with a laugh. "I was hoping to catch you around campus or at Dobbler's this week but I had no luck. So here I am knocking on your door."_

"_So can I help you with something?" Casey asked, a little unsure why he was actually there._

"_I was hoping we could go for a walk," said Cappie._

"_Now?" Casey asked. _

"_Sure," Cappie replied._

"_I don't know," said Casey. "I just changed into my sweatpants and not really looking the most presentable."_

"_You look just fine," said Cappie grabbing her arm. "So let's go."_

_Casey was barely able to grab her key as he pulled her out into the hallway and they made their way outside._

"_I was thinking we could head over towards the gardens," said Cappie as they began to walk._

"_Okay," said Casey._

_They walked a couple hundred feet in silence until Cappie finally spoke up._

"_So tell me a little about yourself Casey Cartwright," said Cappie._

_Casey was a little shocked that he actually remembered her full name but nonetheless she answered the question. "I'm from Chicago; I've lived there since I was born."_

"_Like actually in the city?" Cappie asked._

"_No, more towards the suburbs," Casey replied. "I don't think I would want to live right in the city. It's too loud and busy."_

"_You know, I don't think I've ever been to Chicago," said Cappie. "What made you come to school here in the Ohio though?"_

"_That's a good question," said Casey with a small laugh as she turned and made eye contact with his piercing blue eyes again. She held the gaze for a couple of seconds before looking forward again. "I got an information packet in the mail one day and it just looked like a really nice school. Plus it fell into the 'far away from my parents but not too far away' plan that I was looking for."_

"_Trouble with your parents?" Cappie asked._

"_No, not really," Casey replied. "I just felt like it was time for me to kind of grow up and get away and be on my own. If they had their way they would have had me go to school in town and live at home."_

"_So you think you made the right decision?" Cappie asked._

"_I think so," Casey replied. "I like all my classes and really excited about getting involved in the sorority."_

"_Any siblings?" Cappie asked._

"_No," Casey replied. "How about you?"_

"_I guess us only children have to stick together then huh?" Cappie said with a smile._

_At that time they had reached the gardens and Cappie led her over to one of the benches and they sat down._

"_So do you have a boyfriend waiting for you back in Chicago?" Cappie asked as he turned to look at her._

"_No," said Casey as she blushed a little bit. "I've had boyfriends but none of them have worked out."_

"_I guess that leaves all the guys here to fight over you then huh?" said Cappie._

"_Speaking of guys," said Casey trying to change the subject. "How long have you known your roommate Evan?"_

"_Ev and I go way back," Cappie replied. "We met at summer camp several years ago and have been friends since."_

"_It must be nice knowing someone here like that," said Casey. "I tried to get a couple of my friends to come to CRU but they wanted to stay closer to home."_

"_I think it's a good thing not knowing anybody though," said Cappie. "Then you can kind of start over and be whoever you want to be. No one knows who you really are."_

"_Well I certainly don't want to be someone I'm not," said Casey with a laugh._

"_I didn't mean it like that," said Cappie._

"_I know," said Casey softly as they locked eyes again, this time holding their gaze for several seconds. "So," said Casey as she finally looked away. "What do you like to do in your spare time?"_

"_Party," said Cappie with a laugh._

"_Anything besides that?" Casey asked, almost disappointed in his answer._

"_I like to listen to music," said Cappie. "I also sing, do a little karaoke sometimes."_

"_Really?" Casey asked. "What kind of music do you like?"_

"_Mostly rock and alternative," Cappie replied. "I'll let just you in on a little secret through."_

"_What's that?" Casey asked._

"_I've been known to listen to a little pop and boy band stuff at times," he leaned in and whispered to her._

_Casey almost melted when she felt his warm breath near her ear but quickly let out a giggle at his statement so he didn't notice the other effect he had had on her._

"_It's not funny," he said as he backed away. "I bet you listened to the same stuff."_

"_Guilty as charged," said Casey repeating his statement from earlier in the evening._

_The two of them continued to sit there and talk about all kinds of subjects, realizing quickly how easy it was to talk to one another. Casey eventually pulled out her phone and looked at the time._

"_It's after two," she said. "I really should get back and get to sleep. We have a pledge meeting early tomorrow morning."_

"_On a Saturday?" Cappie asked. _

"_We're getting together to make presents for our big sisters," Casey replied as she stood up. "And you took me away from the homework that I wanted to get done tonight so I have to get some of that done tomorrow too."_

"_Is that such a bad thing?" Cappie asked as he stood up and began to walk with her._

"_No, not at all," she replied. "This was so much more fun than homework."_

"_I should hope so," said Cappie._

_The two of them walked in silence the rest of the way back to Pearson Hall. When they got to the door they turned and faced each other._

"_You know, in all the talking we did tonight I didn't learn anything about your family and your growing up," said Casey. _

"_Well I guess that just gives us an excuse to do this again sometime huh?" said Cappie with a smile. _

"_So should I just wait for the next time you come knocking at my door?" Casey asked smiling back at him._

"_How about I tell you I'll be there tomorrow at seven to pick you up for dinner?" Cappie asked._

_Now Casey was really blushing. "Sure," she said as she continued to smile and look into his eyes._

_And then as if a magnet was turned on between the two of them, they each began to lean their faces closer and closer to one another until finally their lips touched. _

"_GET A ROOM!" yelled a guy riding his bike near them causing Casey to pull away quickly, making the kiss last no more than a second._

"_So, uh, I should, uh, get going," said Casey turning towards the door and trying to open it._

"_I think your key card might unlock it," said Cappie with a laugh._

"_Oh yeah," said Casey as she used it to unlock the door and avoiding any eye contact with him. "I'll see you tomorrow."_

"_See you tomorrow," was the last thing she heard as the door shut._

Casey was now giggling to herself at how frazzled she had become after they kissed. Sure she had kissed other boys before but none of them had compared to the small electric spark she felt when she kissed him, even though it was for only a second.

"What's going on in here?" asked Mr. Cartwright as he stepped into Casey's room.

"Hey dad," said Casey as she got off the bed and hugged him.

"What were you giggling about?" he asked.

"Oh I found one of my old diaries and was laughing at some of the crazy stuff I had written," Casey replied.

"About what?" her dad asked.

"Just some funny things Ashleigh and I did with the sorority," Casey lied.

"Well your mother wanted me to ask if you wanted to take a break for some lunch," said Mr. Cartwright.

"As long as she has her famous lemonade to drink with it," said Casey with a smile.

"I made her make a pitcher of it last night," Mr. Cartwright smiled back as Casey hooked arms with him and the two of them headed downstairs for lunch.

* * *

**A/N: So I've had the start of this story on my computer for a while and decided to post it to see if there is any interest. Basically it's about Cappie and Casey freshman year if you couldn't tell. I'll post more if there are still readers out there :0)**


	2. Chapter 2

After lunch Casey went back upstairs to her room to finish packing. She pulled a few things out of her desk but the book lying on the bed was taunting her. She wanted to continue reading but she knew she had to get the packing done. But after quickly throwing the rest of the things in her desk in the box she went and sat on the bed again and grabbed her journal. She was up to her first real date with Cappie and she remembers it like it was yesterday.

"_How many outfits are you going to try on before you settle on one?" asked Ashleigh as she sat on Casey's bed watching her get ready._

"_I just don't know what kind of date this is," said Casey as she rummaged through her closet. "Should I be fancy and wear my tight black skirt or casual and wear my jean skirt?"_

"_How about a compromise and wear your black jean skirt," said Ashleigh with a smile._

_Casey turned around and glared at her. "If I had one then I would be wearing it," she stated._

_After another five minutes Casey finally decided to wear a pair of her dark blue jeans and red top. She couldn't picture Cappie in anything other than jeans so she figured she would be safe with that._

_She was just finishing putting some lip gloss on when there was a knock at the door._

"_I'll get it," said Ashleigh as she hopped off the bed and went over to the door. "Cappie, it's nice to see you again."_

"_Nice to see you too," said Cappie with a smile. "Is Casey ready?"_

"_Yeah, come on in," said Ashleigh as she stepped out of the way and let him in._

_Casey turned around and smiled as she saw Cappie for the first time. She was right; he had on a pair of dark blue jeans and a plaid button down shirt. His hair fell neatly just above his eyes which were still as piercing as ever._

"_This is for you," he said as he handed her a single red rose._

"_Thanks," said Casey as she took it and set it down on her desk. "You look very nice tonight."_

"_And so do you," he replied as he extended his arm out to her. "Shall we get going?"_

"_Sure," said Casey as she took his hand and the two of them headed towards the door._

"_You kids have fun tonight," said Ashleigh as they walked into the hallway. "Casey, I'll be in my room later tonight if you need me."_

_But Casey didn't respond. All she could think about at the moment was how good his hand felt clasped together with hers. It was like they were made to fit together perfectly._

"_Did you hear me?" she heard Cappie ask as they got outside._

"_I'm sorry," said Casey shaking her thoughts about holding Cappie's hand. "What did you say?"_

"_I said that this is my car right over here," said Cappie as he pointed to the huge Bronco parked on the side of the street._

"_That is your car?" Casey asked as she slightly panicked about the topless car messing up her perfectly straightened hair._

"_Yeah, it's a bit of a beater," said Cappie as he opened the door for her. "But I've had some really great times with Broncosauras."_

_He helped Casey up into the car and quickly got into the driver's side and started it up._

"_Where are we going?" Casey asked._

"_Just downtown," said Cappie as he began to drive. "I heard there's a really good Italian restaurant that I thought we would try."_

"_Okay," said Casey as they drove the rest of the way in silence._

_Cappie parked the car and Casey hopped out taking a short look at her hair in the mirror to make sure it wasn't too messed up. They made their way towards the restaurant and as soon as Cappie was next to her again he took her hand into his and she got that same feeling she had the last time. Even though his hand was a little sweaty this time she didn't care, she loved the tingling it sent up and down her arm._

_The two of them mostly talked about their sorority and fraternity houses over dinner. Cappie couldn't stop talking about his brothers and how he couldn't wait to get his Kappa Tau name._

"_Did you guys save any room for dessert?" asked their waitress as she took their dinner plates away._

"_I'm pretty stuffed," said Casey as she set her napkin on the table._

"_Oh come on," whined Cappie. "You couldn't at least split something with me?"_

"_Well what did you have in mind?" Casey asked as she leaned closer to him and scanned the dessert menu he was looking at._

"_How about a piece of cherry pie?" Cappie asked._

"_Mmmm, I have a weakness for pie," said Casey with a smile._

"_Then it's settled," said Cappie as he handed the menu back to the waitress. "One piece of cherry pie please."_

"_I'll be right back with it," she replied as she left the table._

"_I don't think anyone can like pie as much as I do," said Casey as she leaned back in her chair. "I remember when my grandma had me try it for the first time. I was like seven years old and could have eaten the entire pie if she didn't take it away from me."_

"_Well you may have met your match," said Cappie as he smiled at her. "Any kind of pie is just about the only type of dessert I'll eat."_

_Just then the waitress came back with the piece of pie and set it down with two forks. The two of them began to eat, glancing looks at each other every so often._

"_Hey, you're eating all of the cherries," whined Casey as she watched Cappie take a large bite of the filling inside._

"_I'm sorry," he said as he pierced one of the last cherries with his fork and held it out to her. "This one is for you."_

_The two of them didn't move their gaze from each other as Casey put her mouth around the cherry and took it off of Cappie's fork._

"_Good?" he asked as he set his fork down._

_All Casey could do was nod her head yes as she continued to get lost in his eyes. Cappie was the one who broke the gaze as the waitress came over and set the bill down on the table. He pulled out his wallet and put enough cash to cover the bill and tip down on top of it._

"_Ready to go?" he asked as he put his wallet back in his pocket._

"_Sure," said Casey as she stood up and followed Cappie out of the restaurant._

_He immediately took her hand into his as soon as they exited the restaurant and walked to his car._

"_The night is still young," said Cappie as he helped Casey into the car. "Wanna head over to my dorm room for a bit?"_

"_I don't know," Casey hesitated as he got into the driver's seat._

"_Evan will be there," said Cappie. "So it's not like it will be just the two of us alone."_

"_Oh, okay then," said Casey as she watched him start the car and drive back to campus._

_Cappie unlocked the door to his room to find Evan lying on his bed flipping through television stations._

"_Hey guys," he said sitting up a little in the bed. "How was dinner?"_

"_Very good," said Cappie as he sat down on his own bed._

"_Yeah, I'll definitely have to go back there sometime," said Casey as she sat in one of the desk chairs and avoiding sitting next to Cappie on his bed._

"_Wanna beer?" Cappie asked as he took one out of the refrigerator. _

"_No thanks," said Casey._

"_Ev?" Cappie asked._

"_Sure, why not," Evan replied as Cappie tossed a beer towards him._

"_How do you guys even have beer?" Casey asked. "Don't tell me one of you has a fake ID?"_

"_No, we'll hopefully get those next semester," said Cappie with a laugh. "That's what Joe said at least."_

"_I had our RA buy them for us," said Evan as he took a sip of his beer. "He'll do just about anything for some extra cash."_

"_Wow, my RA would probably kick us out of school if we even had beer in our room," said Casey with a small laugh._

"_Bummer," said Cappie as he smiled back at her._

"_So Evan," said Casey turning her attention to him. "Do you like rushing Kappa Tau as much as Cappie does?"_

"_Oh yeah, never a dull moment in that house," Evan replied. "The other day they were talking about having us pledges skateboard off the roof. I really hope they were joking."_

"_Yeah, I hope so too," said Casey with a laugh. "For both of your sakes."_

_The three of them spent the next several hours sitting around and talking. Casey couldn't believe how well the three of them were getting along but she did feel a little uncomfortable at times. She caught Evan looking at her a couple of times in a way that she couldn't really describe but it was certainly something more than just being friendly. But she shrugged it off as she was there with Cappie and having a great time._

_The conversation was suddenly cut off when both Evan and Cappie's phones went off._

"_Uh oh," said Cappie as he read the text. "We've got to get to the house."_

"_What's wrong?" Casey asked._

"_The brothers want to play some pledge bowling so we're needed," Evan replied as he got up and grabbed some things off of his desk._

"_At one in the morning?" Casey asked._

"_Yeah, I'm sorry," said Cappie standing up and walking over to her. "But we have to go."_

_Casey rolled out her bottom lip and gave Cappie a pouty look._

"_I'll make it up to you, I promise," he said._

"_Come on Cap, we can't be late," said Evan as he opened the door._

"_I'll catch you around," said Cappie as he kissed her on the cheek and quickly ran out of the room with Evan._

_Casey stood there for a second wondering what to do. She glanced around the room and saw one of Cappie's notebooks sitting on the table next to his bed with something on it that caught her eye. She stepped towards it and saw in the corner was her name with a heart drawn around it. Seeing that made her smile as she left the room and made her way back towards her dorm._

Casey looked at the page she was reading and saw all of the hearts drawn on the page with Cappie's name in the middle of them. She followed them onto the next page and continued to reminisce of the good times with Cappie.

"_So are you and Cappie like officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet?" Ashleigh asked as the two girls made their way over to the Kappa Tau house._

"_I'm not sure," Casey replied. "We've met for coffee a couple of times over the past week and finally exchanged phone numbers but we've never said anything about whether we are just dating or exclusive or anything like that."_

"_Don't you think you should find out?" Ashleigh asked. _

"_How do you even ask something like that?" Casey replied. "I wouldn't even know where to start."_

"_Well maybe at the party tonight you two can have some time to talk or something," said Ashleigh. "It is all about hell-raisers and heart-breakers you know."_

"_I know," said Casey with a sigh. "I just don't want to be the one with the heart broken."_

"_Girl there is no way Cappie would turn you down looking as sexy as you do tonight," said Ashleigh._

"_Thanks Ash," said Casey with a smile as they opened the door to the Kappa Tau house and went inside._

"_Well hello ladies," said Evan as he put his arms around both of them. "So nice of you to join us tonight."_

"_We wouldn't miss a bad ass Kappa Tau party for the world," said Casey._

"_Glad to hear," said Evan. "Let's go get you two some drinks."_

_Evan led the two girls to the backyard where there was a small wading pool full of blue liquid. Evan dunked two cups in the liquid and handed them to Casey and Ashleigh._

"_What is this?" Ashleigh asked._

"_I'm not really sure," said Evan with a smile. "I just know if makes you drunk pretty quickly so make sure you pace yourselves."_

_Casey took a sip and could taste the alcohol right away. "Whew," she said. "That is strong."_

"_Warned ya," said Evan as he left to go talk with a few of his pledge brothers._

"_Where's Cappie?" Ashleigh asked as she looked around._

"_I don't know," said Casey also looking around. "I haven't seen him yet."_

_The two girls walked back inside with their drinks and were surprised as they saw Cappie sliding down the banister next to the stairs._

"_Wooooo!" he said all the way down until his butt slid off the end and right onto the floor._

"_Are you okay?" Casey asked as she rushed over to him._

"_Yeah, I'm good," said Cappie standing up and rubbing his butt. "Good thing I have a little padding back there to break the fall."_

"_Aw do you want me to kiss it and make it feel all better?" Casey joked._

"_Don't tempt me," said Cappie as he put his arm around her and the two of them headed back out to the backyard._

"_Ow, ow! Nice score Cappie," said one of his brothers as Casey and he walked by._

"_What exactly does he mean by that?" Casey asked him._

"_He's just in agreement with me in how smokin' hot you look tonight," said Cappie as he stepped back and observed Casey in her short black skirt and pink fitted tank top._

_Casey just blushed as the two of them made their way over to where some people were dancing._

_They spent the next several hours drinking and dancing and talking amongst the party guests. Casey couldn't help but notice that Cappie barely took his hands off of her that night. He always had his hand on her hip or shoulder when they were talking to people and their closeness on the dance floor was unlike anyone else's. He looked down at her with a passion in his eyes that drove Casey crazier by the second._

_It was towards the end of the night and the party was starting to wind down. Cappie offered to walk Casey home to make sure she was safe._

"_All of that dancing kind of made me hungry," said Casey as the two of them stepped over a couple of passed out brothers on their way back into the house._

"_Come with me," was all Cappie said as he took her hand and pulled her towards the other side of the house and into the kitchen._

_Oddly enough there was no one in the kitchen; it was just the two of them._

"_It's so quiet in here compared to out there," said Casey._

"_That's because we don't keep the alcohol in here," said Cappie with a smile as he surprised Casey by lifting her up so she sat on the counter and eye level with him. They locked eyes for a second before Cappie turned around and opened the refrigerator. "Officer Huck comes in every so often to inspect the kitchen for alcohol so we have other hiding places to keep us from getting in trouble."_

_Casey watched as Cappie pulled a pink box out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter next to her._

"_Is that a pie I see?" Casey asked with a giggle._

"_It is. I hope you like lemon meringue," he said as he opened the lid._

_Casey watched as Cappie pulled a fork out of one of the drawers and took a forkful right out of the middle of the pie._

"_My lady," he said as he held the fork up to her mouth._

_Casey took the bite and savored both the deliciousness of the bite but also the sweetness of the moment._

"_Hey Cappie," she said as she watched him take a bite of his own._

"_Hm?" he asked as he turned to look at her._

"_You said 'my lady' and I guess that I'm just kind of confused as to if we have some sort of label on our relationship or if we are just kind of hanging out and having a good time," said Casey as her heart started to race._

_She became even more nervous when Cappie didn't respond. She wished at that point that she hadn't even asked. He was all about having fun in college; he didn't want some sort of serious relationship with her._

_She watched as he took another forkful out of the pie and put it in front of her. She was about to take the bite when he quickly brought it back towards him causing her to lean forward to try and get it again. But instead he moved the fork out of the way and crashed his lips into hers. She felt her breath hitch in her throat as his lips touched hers. She heard the fork fall to the counter as she felt both of his hands grab her waist and pull her closer to him. It was their first real kiss and it was all the fireworks that she had dreamed of._

_It was Casey who pulled away first. And it was not because she wanted to, it was more for a need to take a breath and calm herself down. She may have pulled away but he still stood there with his hands tightly around her waist and his face no more than a couple of inches from hers._

"_So does that answer your question?" he asked softly as he brought his gaze from her lips up to her eyes._

"_Yeah," Casey nodded her head as she brought her lips back to his for another kiss._

"Casey! Casey! Earth to Casey!"

Casey shook her head and came crashing back into reality as she looked up to see her mom standing next to her.

"Hey mom," she said as she closed the journal and set it in her lap.

"I've been saying your name for at least a minute," Mrs. Cartwright said. "What has you so engrossed in this book?"

"Nothing," said Casey as she pulled it away as her mom tried to reach for it.

Her mom just gave her a strange but knowing look. "This is about Cappie isn't it?"

"It's fine mom," said Casey as she stood up and put the journal in the box to take home with her.

"How many times has he broke your heart?" Mrs. Cartwright asked.

"Probably as many times as I've broken his," said Casey in a frustrated tone.

"You need to let it go hun," said Mrs. Cartwright. "It's been a year since the two of you have seen each other and even longer since you've had any kind of conversation with him."

"I really should get going," said Casey as she picked up the box and walked towards the door.

"Case, you know I'm just trying to help," said Mrs. Cartwright.

"I'll be fine mom," said Casey as she made her way into the hallway. "I'll see you at the party tomorrow."

And with that she made her way outside and wrestled to get the box in the backseat of her car. As she closed the door she couldn't help but see the journal lying right on top and wonder how things went so wrong when they were so good.

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**A/N: So boo for not many Greek fanfiction readers out there anymore but I figured I would continue with the story for the few who are, espeically bettakappa...your comment made me lol and I know you get just as excited for Cappie/Casey interaction as I do :0) Hope everyone liked this chapter. Next one will probably be up next week sometime.**


	3. Chapter 3

Casey lives about twenty minutes away from her parent's home in a high rise penthouse in downtown Chicago. She's done well for herself over the years. She graduated from GW with her law degree, passed the bar exam and was instantly offered a position at the district attorney's office in Chicago. She first started out doing mostly legal aid work and research but over the past year she has worked her way up as one of the assistant district attorneys and handles mostly misdemeanor and minor felony cases.

"Good to see you Miss Cartwright," said her doorman Tony as she pulled up to her apartment. He was very friendly black man in his late fifties. He was a little on the pudgy side but carried it well with the nice suits he wears to work every day.

"Tony, could you help me take this box up to my place?" Casey asked as she attempted to wiggle the box out of her backseat.

"It would be my pleasure," said Tony as Casey stepped aside and he easily lifted it out of the car.

"Thanks," she said as the two of them headed towards the elevator and up to the twenty-fourth floor.

As she opened her door Tony started to laugh next to her.

"What's so funny?" she asked as she directed him to set the box on the kitchen table.

"My daughter used to have these stickers," he said as he picked up her journal. "She would put them all over the walls of her room and her books. It drove me crazy."

"Yeah, I guess they were pretty popular back then huh?" Casey asked as she watched him set the journal back down and began to walk him over to the door.

"You ring me if you need anything else Miss Cartwright," said Tony with a smile.

"I will. And thanks," said Casey as she handed him a tip and closed the door behind him.

Casey kicked off her shoes, grabbed the journal and sat down on her couch which faced the windows showing off the gorgeous view of downtown Chicago. She knew her mom was right and she shouldn't be bringing back all of these old memories of her and Cappie but she couldn't help it. Over the past several years all she's thought about was the arguing and the bad times. It was nice to actually relive some of the better times.

She skipped ahead several pages to the end of September when she and Cappie had been together for about a month. Things were going really well in that area, but not so much in other areas.

"_I need help," said Casey as she stormed into Evan and Cappie's dorm room._

_Evan wasn't there but Cappie quickly spun around in his desk chair and looked at her._

"_What's wrong?" he asked._

"_I'm not going to get into the sorority," said Casey as she shut the door and sat down on Cappie's bed. "I can't seem to do things right."_

"_What do you mean?" Cappie asked as he came over and sat next to her._

"_Well for starters I forgot to turn in my study hours," said Casey with a sigh. "And then we have so many mandatory meetings that I forgot one. I miss one meeting out of the five we have a week and they put me on probation. Probation! And on top of all that I'm still missing ten of my philanthropy hours and they're probably going to flip even more when they find out about that."_

_Cappie reached over and put his arm around Casey. She immediately drove her head into his shoulder inhaling his familiar and intoxicating scent. She told herself she wasn't going to cry, even though she wanted to._

"_I think you need a break tonight," Cappie finally stated._

"_A break is the last thing that I need," said Casey as she lifted her head up to look at him. "I need to get all of this stuff done."_

"_Well tonight you're taking a break," he said as he stood up and put his jacket on. "And if you must, you could always say you were helping me for your philanthropy hours. Cause lord knows I need help sometimes."_

_Casey couldn't help but smile._

"_That's what I wanted to see," he said as he extended his hand out to her. "Now let's go."_

_Casey reluctantly took his hand and he led her out of the dorm and to his car. They drove for a little bit until Cappie finally pulled into a small parking lot of what looked like a bar._

"_The Lite and Easy," said Casey reading the sign. "What in the heck is this place?"_

"_It's my secret place," said Cappie as he got out of the car and walked over and helped her out of the car. "It's where I go to get away from school and Greek life and whatever might be bothering me."_

_Cappie opened the door for her and the instant smell of beer and cigarette smoke overcame her. It was definitely a dive bar filled with a few locals and certainly no college students. He led her over to one of the pool tables and handed her a pool stick._

"_I suck at pool," said Casey as she took the stick from him._

"_Who cares?" said Cappie as he took off his jacket and set it on a table near him. "This night is all about relaxing and not worrying about school or Greek life or anything else."_

_Casey took her jacket off too and laid it on top of Cappie's._

"_You wanna break?" Cappie asked as he racked up the balls._

"_Sure," said Casey as she lined up the cue ball for her shot._

_Casey took a deep breath, pulled back the stick and hit the cue ball which went sailing to the right and didn't hit any of the other balls._

"_I told you I suck at pool," she said with a small laugh._

"_Here, let me help you," said Cappie as he set the cue ball back in place._

_The next thing Casey knew he was behind her, breathing his warm breath in her ear and his arms wrapped around her to hold the pool stick with her._

"_The key is to hold the pool stick nice and loose," he said. "You don't want to hold too hard and it might jerk and make the ball go the wrong way."_

"_Are you sure you're talking about the game of pool?" Casey asked with a laugh._

_Cappie also laughed. "I'm really trying to help you here," he said through his laughs. "You're not making it easy."_

"_Sorry," said Casey as she tried to stop laughing. "Go ahead."_

_Cappie showed her how to use her left hand to steady the pool stick and then the two of them hit the cue ball together, causing the other balls to disperse at the end of the table. The two of them took turns trying to hit the rest of the balls in the pockets with Cappie mostly making them and Casey mostly missing them. She had the last shot and the cue ball was perfectly lined up with the five ball near the corner pocket._

"_Remember what I taught you," said Cappie. "Nice and loose."_

_Casey lined up the shot and loosened her grip on the pool stick. She took a deep breath and hit the five ball right in the pocket._

"_Oh my gosh! I did it!" she said excitedly._

"_You see, I told you it's all about how you hold the stick," said Cappie._

"_Nice and loose, I'll remember that," said Casey as she winked at him._

"_Well, maybe not loose all of the time," said Cappie smiling back at her. "There are some shots where you just have to grip it a little tighter."_

_It didn't take long for Casey to burst out laughing with the sexual innuendo they were going back and forth with. _

"_I'm sorry Cap," she said. "I've just never played a more sexual game of pool before."_

"_You've just never played pool with a guy like me then," said Cappie as he stepped closer to her and grabbed her waist to pull her closer to him._

_Casey looked up into his eyes and continued to smile. "I haven't thought about school or the sorority or anything since we got here," she said. "Thanks Cap."_

"_Anytime my lady," he replied as he leaned down and kissed her softly._

Casey shut the book and walked over to the pool table she had in her den. She found it kind of ironic that the couple she bought the penthouse from had the pool table and offered to include it for her. She couldn't turn it down as she was pretty good at pool, she just didn't play a whole lot.

The balls were scattered around the table from the last time she stopped playing so she took it upon herself to line up a couple of shots and nail them right in the pockets like it was nothing to her. She wondered if he still played pool at all and if so if she could still beat him like she did but didn't do junior year.

After just the cue ball was left on the table she made her way back to the couch and re-opened the journal and couldn't help but laugh at her next entry.

"_Wow, I don't think I've ever seen the Kappa Tau house so quiet," said Ashleigh as her and Casey walked into the house._

"_Yeah, that is kind of weird," Casey replied as they made their way to the back yard to see Cappie, Evan and several other brothers sitting in lawn chairs and staring into the sky._

"_Ew, what's that funky smell?" Ashleigh asked._

"_I'm not really sure," said Casey as she stood in front of Cappie to try and get his attention._

"_Hey, what's up?" he asked as he finally looked at her._

"_Cap, you're eyes are all bloodshot," said Casey as she looked at him. "Are you sick or something?"_

"_He's not sick," said Egyptian Joe. "He's high."_

"_Wait, are you guys doing marijuana?" Ashleigh asked rather loudly._

"_Shhhhhh!" said several of the brothers._

"_You girls so have to try this," said Evan without moving his gaze from the sky. "The clouds are like little bunnies and fairies chasing each other."_

_The next thing Casey knew Cappie was handing her a joint._

"_I don't know," she said sitting in a chair next to him. "I've never even smoked a cigarette."_

"_You've got to at least try it once," said Cappie as he continued to motion for her to take it from him._

"_Casey, maybe we should go," said Ashleigh as she saw Casey take the joint from Cappie._

"_I just want to give it a try," said Casey. "Let's live a little on the wild side Ash."_

_Ashleigh just rolled her eyes as Casey brought the joint up to her lips and inhaled. She coughed a couple of times as she handed it to Ashleigh._

"_I don't really feel anything guys," said Casey after a couple of minutes._

"_I just feel a little lightheaded," said Ashleigh as she closed her eyes._

"_Just keep passing it back and forth," said Joe. "You'll get the feeling eventually."_

_Casey and Ashleigh did what they were instructed until the entire joint was gone. Casey eventually leaned back in the chair and looked up at the sky._

"_Whoa! I see the bunnies Evan!" she said._

"_Aren't animals amazing," said Evan in a very sweet voice._

_They all sat there for a little while longer just staring at the sky, hardly saying a word. Eventually the guys all started to come down from their high._

"_Whew, that was a good batch Joe," said Cappie as he sat up. "I really felt at peace with nature."_

"_Very good," said Joe. "Next time we'll work on being at peace with ourselves."_

_Most of the brothers went back inside when Cappie turned to Casey who was still staring at the sky._

"_We should probably head back to the dorms now," said Cappie as he reached for her hand._

"_But I was trying to find God in the clouds," Casey whined as he helped her up._

"_Maybe you can see him the next time," said Cappie as they began to walk towards the side gate._

"_AHH!" Casey screamed suddenly and jumped into Cappie's arms. "What in tarnation is that thing?!"_

"_It's a special tree," said Ashleigh who was being escorted home by Evan. "They traveled here from space."_

"_No, no, no, no, no," said Casey. "I don't like space and I don't like trees. Cappie save me!"_

"_Case, the trees aren't going anywhere," said Cappie as he put his hand on the trunk. "There is nothing to be afraid of."_

"_You just touched it!" Casey gasped. _

"_Come on, let's get you guys home," said Cappie as he opened the gate and instantly regretted it as they had to walk through a few trees to get on the main path to the dorms._

"_I can't do it," said Casey as she froze in place. "I'm scared."_

_Cappie couldn't help but smile as he watched his girlfriend turn into a scared little girl._

"_I'll get you through it," he said trying to get her to start walking. "Trust me."_

_But Casey didn't move. Instead she sat down on the ground and buried her head in her hands._

"_Woo hoo! Now I can't see them!" she said._

_Cappie and Evan exchanged glances and continued to laugh without trying to make the girls feel bad. Then Cappie did the only thing he knew how to do._

"_Make sure you keep your eyes closed hun," he said as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her through the trees._

"_My hero!" said Casey as they got to the clearing and she knew she was nice and safe in his arms._

Casey's growling stomach was the only thing that shook her out of her thoughts. She remembered how hungry she was after she came down off her high. She practically ate the entire stash of Twinkies she had in her room. But she also couldn't forget how Cappie had stayed with her until he knew she was back to her old self. It was one of the many moments that she realized how much he did care for her at the time.

Casey eventually got up and went into the kitchen. She grabbed a TV dinner out of the freezer and put it in the microwave. Sure it wasn't the most sophisticated of dinners but it would certainly quiet her stomach down. She ate quickly and didn't waste any time going back to the journal. She knew the entry coming up next wasn't ever significant to her at the time but became much more meaningful after Valentine's Day her senior year.

"_Casey, it's fine. I don't need any groceries," whined Cappie as he watched Casey open the drawers next to the refrigerator to find them empty. "Evan's parents will restock us after midterms are over."_

"_Even you said things are a little weird between you and Evan since he left Kappa Tau to pledge Omega Chi," said Casey as she opened the refrigerator to find nothing but beer. "Plus if we are going to pull an all-nighter studying tonight we're going to need some snacks."_

"_We can just grab something out of the vending machines," said Cappie._

"_No, just come with me," said Casey as she pulled him off the bed and out the door._

_Casey drove to Cyprus Snacks and parked the car. They went inside and Casey wasted no time in putting all kinds of chips and snack cakes into the cart._

"_You really don't have to do this," said Cappie just standing by her and refusing to touch anything._

"_Cap, I swear you've lost like ten pounds since we started dating," said Casey as she put some cheese crackers in the cart. "I want to make sure you're eating."_

"_I eat," said Cappie hesitantly._

_Casey glared at him._

"_Okay so maybe it's only once a day but the cafeteria is just too far to walk sometimes," said Cappie in a defeated voice._

"_So that is why you need this stuff for your room," Casey said as she put a bunch of bananas into the cart._

_She noticed Cappie giving her a sour look._

"_What?" she asked._

"_You can buy me all the snacks you want," he said reaching for the bananas in the cart. "But healthy food is out of the question."_

"_Fine," said Casey as she watched him put the bananas back where they were._

_After grabbing a couple packs of soda they were off to the checkout counter. Cappie helped Casey unload all the groceries on the belt as the cashier rang them up._

"_Stocking up for midterms I see?" asked the elderly lady who was ringing them up._

"_You could say that," said Casey digging out her credit card. "But more like making sure my boyfriend doesn't go hungry."_

"_Well you're a very good girlfriend then," said the cashier as she took Casey's card._

"_Thanks," said Casey as she tucked her hair behind her ear and turned to look back at Cappie._

_He was leaning against the cart staring at her like she was the only person in the room. She smiled in hopes to break his trance and he instantly smiled back at her._

"_Are you okay?" she asked as she got her card back from the cashier. "You seem a little out of it."_

"_Yeah, I'm fine," said Cappie finally breaking his stare. "Maybe I'm just a little hungry."_

"_Well you'll have plenty to eat once we get back to your room," she stated as they each grabbed a couple of bags and made their way back to the car._

_It was nearing three in the morning and the two of them were still up in Cappie's room cramming for their midterms. Even though they weren't taking the same classes they were there to quiz each other and to help stay motivated when they began to get tired._

"_I've been sitting in this chair all night," said Casey as she stood up. "My back is starting to kill me."_

"_Come lay in the bed with me then," said Cappie scooting over to give her some room._

_Casey thought about it for a second but didn't see any harm in it. They were expecting Evan to come back from the library soon so she knew nothing crazy could happen. So she grabbed her sociology book and joined Cappie on the bed. He instantly put his arm around her and she snuggled close to his chest._

"_Much better," she said as she opened her book to where she left off._

_But she didn't remember reading much more because Cappie's arms felt like a big blanket wrapped around her and she couldn't help but fall asleep cuddled next to him. It was the first night she ever spent the night with him but with as comfortable as she felt it certainly wasn't her last._

Casey yawned as she thought about Cappie's strong arms wrapped around her as she slept. She hadn't felt any mans arms around her for quite some time but every guy since Cappie has been compared to him. And no one has come close to making her feel as warm and secure as he did every time he was with her. Just thinking about Cappie's arms wrapped around her caused Casey to begin to fall asleep herself as the journal slipped out of her hands and rested gently against her chest.

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**A/N: Thanks for the reviews last chapter everyone. Glad to see there are still people out there reading Greek fanfiction :0) Hope you liked this chapter too. Next one will probably be up next week again.**


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